


Practice Lessons

by blue_nebulae



Series: One shot lives [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Help, Jealousy, Practice Kissing, Realization, Teaching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 11:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10920567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_nebulae/pseuds/blue_nebulae
Summary: What do you do when your best friend asks you to teach her how to kiss? Gendry will have to find out.Modern AU.





	Practice Lessons

A normal relaxing afternoon for Gendry was just to chill on his bedroom playing guitar, maybe reading or watching tv. Today it felt like a day for just relaxing on the couch after rugby practice. Today was one of the few days were he had no homework for he had done it on his free time during school so he could just slug around and take a break from everything peacefully at home.

But no, apparently today wasn't going to be as relaxing or chill as he had hoped because someone had invaded his tiny apartment and that someone was his best friend, Arya Stark. Normally, he would find it completely normal for her to be at his place because she spent half the time there anyway, what worried him was her passing around aimlessly and not looking him in the eye. Years of knowing her only meant one thing, she was about to ask him a favour, a favour he was probably not likely to agree or like and that was the reason behind her nervousness.

Last time Arya acted like this was when she asked him to drive her eight hours to Highgarden in order to buy a present for her sister Sansa. Eight hours, mind you, that included him inviting her lunch and filling the tank of his car. Being three years older than her, having a car and driving licence meant she always asked him to drive her around when her brothers, his best mates, were not around to do it.

So right now he was in his small kitchen watching her as she walked in circles around his living room which also served as dining room in his small apartment. While waiting for her to speak Gendry decided he better get comfortable, maybe prepare a sandwich for him and one for her while also pouring some beverage he had on the fridge.

He was raising the glass towards his lips when she stopped walking, he was curious to hear what she was going to ask him. He was already preparing all the ways he was going to say no before finally complying to whatever she was going to ask from him, he couldn't actually say no to her anyway. He was walking towards the table, where he put the plates with sandwiches, and turned around waiting for her to speak. She was playing with the sleeves of her hoodie, actually it was his black hoodie he lent her once when they got out from the cinema really late and it was cold, hoodie she never gave back but he didn't really mind about it. Half of his wardrobe was hers anyways, she would take his shirts, hoodies and jackets as she pleased and she did it claiming they were comfortable and that they suited her best, which he couldn't deny because she did look cute but it was mostly because his clothes were ridiculously big for her small frame.

"Gen… I need your help" 

Alright, he figured that much. She was still taking her time and if he didn't rush her she was going to take all the time in the world, probably.

"Help with what exactly?" 

She was still fidgeting and very nervous, biting her lip and looking as if she was trying to find the right words for what she was going to say. Possible situations were crossing his mind, perhaps she was going to ask him to drive her some place far away, again, to buy another present. After all, her little brother's birthday was coming soon. Or maybe she was going to ask him to go with her to a place her parents didn't allow her to go alone, like the time she dragged him along to an underground secret rock festival where he ended with a a black eye from being part of the wall of death.

Apparently she was going to ask him something really serious because she had never taken that much time in spilling out the favour. As she sighted and covered herself, he started drinking from his glass again while looking at her and leaning on the table. Once she parted her hands from her face she ran them along her hair, to get it out from her eyes. It had gotten really long, she had never wore her hair that long before and he noted it suited her a lot, he liked long hair on her. Gendry took noticed of how she mouthed from one to three as to gain courage to speak again.

"I need you to teach me how to kiss" 

He choked on his drink and started coughing. No, he had not been expected that request from her, it never crossed his mind. Hells, why would she want to ask him that?!

"What?!" he asked in a high pitched voice he disliked once he stopped coughing,

"you heard me! I need you to teach me how to kiss!"

"Why would you need me to teach you how to kiss?!" why on seven hells would she ask for that kind of favour? In what possible situation would she want to learn that kind of things? Arya didn't liked boys or anyone. She was too much of a free spirit to be a girl with a crush or boy crazy like her sister. Unless…

"Because I don't know how to!" Gendry was stunned, not because Arya had never kissed anyone at fifteen but because she wanted to kiss someone. Who was she planning on kissing?! He started hating the entire male population, sans her brothers, and he even couldn't understand what was bugging him about her kissing someone. It should be perfectly normal for a girl her age to snog and have a boyfriend.

"And why do you want to learn?!" he was so uncomfortable in this whole situation and he could tell she was just as embarrassed as he was.

"Because I need practice before I…"  a notorious blush covered her cheeks as she looked down. She was just standing with arms crossed not looking at him. And she said practice, she wanted to practice kissing, practice kissing with him?! Why?!

"Why do you need to practice?!"  his voice was still that high pitch note he disliked, he couldn't hide his annoyance.

"Because I think I'm going on a date on Friday and I don't want to embarrass myself!" no, no. She was planning on dating some boy and he was going to be her kissing practice?! Gendry was hating every minute of this day.

"You think you're going on a date? And why do you need to practice kissing before a date?!" 

"Because I've never kissed anyone before! And Sansa told me she heard that Edric is planning on asking me out and…" 

"Edric Dayne?! That girly prick? You plan on dating that blond idiot who broke his arm on his first rugby practice?!" That guy was just so girly looking, why would Arya want to date someone like him? No, she shouldn't date a guy like him and much less kiss him. Something inside of him, which he couldn't put a finger on, was just so against the fact of Arya dating and kissing boys or girls or anyone whatsoever. If she had a date on Friday it would meant she wasn't going to spend the evening at his house watching a movie or she wasn't going to end up crashing at his place when it got too late to go home.

"You seriously like that guy? You seriously plan on dating Edric Dayne?" He was shocked, he just couldn't bare the idea of Arya going on a date. If she dated it meant she was going to spend less time with him, her best friend. Arya dating would mean her dressing all girly and holding hands with someone who was not him, though they never held hands except that one time at a haunting house, and someone else would make her laugh and hug her. No, that images did not suit him, he hated those ideas. He felt as if he had swallowed vinegar and a monster was making a fuzz on his gut, what he felt every time something angered him.

"He's okay, I guess. I could like him… But that's not the issue! I just need to learn how to kiss!"  he observed her shifting her weight on her feet while the blush on her face kept getting stronger.

"but why do you need _me_ to teach you?"  fine, she could go out with an idiot guy who thought Nickelback was a good band, seriously Gendry once heard him talking about it during practice. Arya was free to date any idiot on this planet even as he hated the thought of it. However, the real problem was why did she need to learn to practice kissing? Was she planning on making out with the guy as soon as they go out?! The mental image he had of her sucking face with that blond stirred something in him that made him want to punch the walls.

"Because I've never kissed anyone before and it just makes me anxious to think I'd suck at it!" Arya covered her face again in embarrassment. It had everything to do with the fact that she liked to excel at everything she did.

"But you don't have to kiss a guy on your first date! You don't even have to date that guy!" She was a girl and girls went out on dates, but Arya was much better than that guy. No one deserved a girl like her, she was way out of the leagues of any guy he knows.

First, she was the coolest girl he had ever met, she was smart with a wicked sense of humour, she had great taste in music and movies, she was great in sports. But most importantly, she had a good heart and a wild spirit and even when she was the most stubborn person in this whole planet, fact that sometimes drove him mad, that was what he liked most about her. 

"I know, but I just makes me so nervous even thinking about it! And you're my best friend and, please! I swear I would never ask you anything ever again!" 

"But, your first kiss should be like special. Isn't it what girls expect?!" Arya deserved a special moment for her first kiss, even if his chest burnt just by thinking some guy kissing her. He looked down at her lips then back at her eyes, no he disliked way too much the idea of any guy getting even close to her.

"Bullshit! I mean yes but what if I suck at kissing?! Or my first time is awkward or horrible! I, please! Besides, if it's with you it can be special because we're best friends, right? We'll always remember it!" The pride that invaded him at the idea of him being her very first kiss caught him off guard. The point Arya made was a critical hit to him, they were best friends and the idea of him being her very first kiss instead of some other prick who wouldn't appreciate such a special moment convinced him.

"I know you know how to kiss! I heard Jeyne Heddle" she made a face at the mention of said name "saying you were like the best kiss she ever had, and you some other girls you dated also mentioned it" Dating, yes he had dated some girls before but he never found it in him to date them again. Gendry never clicked it off with any of those girls, most of them bored him or didn't have much in common with him anyways. Most of the time it was them who asked him out.

Suddenly it wasn't the hatred she used while speaking of his dates what surprised Gendry it was the fact that he had just realised that it never worked out with a girl because he kept thinking how Arya would have laughed at certain joke he made or how she would have been more fun to hang out with instead of those girls.

He didn't want Arya to date anyone, just as he realised Arya was his perfect date. 

"Are you going to help me or not?! Tell me so I can ask someone else!" 

"No! I mean" he ran his fingers through his hair and placed his hand behind his neck "Yes, I'll help you just don't ask anyone else!" he mentally cursed and tensed up when she jumped to hug him while thanking him. The kiss she placed on his cheek made him blush ten times harder.

"Yes! Thank you! I swear I would never ask you anything again!" she said while detaching from him. What had he gone himself into? He was going to kiss his best friend and teach her how to do it. He never felt any problem kissing any other girl but now it was different, it was Arya!

"Alright, just stand there where you are and… and…" how do you teach someone how to kiss? How do you make a girl's first kiss memorable? When he dated a girl he never cared if he was the first or last guy who kissed them, he never cared if it was good or bad. Mostly, he never remembered how it lead to it but now it was an important deal.

He breathed hard, sighting before speaking "Just, stand there where you are in front of me and close your eyes"-

"Wait! What do I do? Do I just stand or do I do something with my arms like they do in the movies?" Gendry thought for a while what did the girls he had dated did and again he took into consideration that he never cared what they did. He may have certain preferences but right now nothing came to mind and all he had as reference were pitiful chick flicks Arya forced him to watch with her.

"Yes, I… you can… touch me" he placed Arya closer to him, his eyes dipped lower to her lips and then back to her eyes. Never in his life had he been nervous around a girl and the fact that Arya was the one making him nervous was a total new sensation.

"Like? Do I touch your hair? Face? Or I just placed them on your shoulders or around your neck?" 

"You can do any of those, just what you feel natural I guess…" 

"What do you prefer?" – Another surprising thing escaped from her lips. What did he prefer? He wondered about it for a moment because all of the above sounded amazing in his mind. Arya running her fingers through his hair or snaking her arms around his neck.

"It doesn't matter, just do what you feel like doing. You just need to be you, Arya. That is all you need, be comfortable and be you. Now, close your eyes" his voice gradually went lower until he just whispered the last phrase. Arya was just standing in front of him, complying with his request.

He took notice of the little space there was between them and how tiny she was in comparison to his huge frame. She also was skinny which make her seem even more tiny, but fit skinny for all the sports she practiced. Her grey eyes and pale skin were just… stunning and the fact that she was just natural, never wearing an ounce of makeup made her even more beautiful. Gendry felt as if he was seeing Arya Stark for the first time.

Now, he felt the nervousness and butterflies in his stomach he had never felt before in his life. There was pride in him because he was going to be the one who would kiss Arya for the very first time and he was going to make it memorable for she deserved it.

He framed her face with his hands after tugging a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He just leaned in until his lips were place on her forehead, placing a soft kiss there, then he dragged them along the bridge of her nose and placed another kiss at the tip of it. He leaned back a little to look at her, her cheeks were blushed and she looked so vulnerable, fragile and… beautiful.

Gendry wet his lips a bit before leaning in and he placed them on Arya's lips in a chaste kiss that lasted a few seconds and then he pulled away, before leaning back again and placing them once more on her lips in a deeper kiss that made him feel goose pimples all over his body. His head was spinning and one of his hands dragged to the back of her neck while the other one was placed on the small of her back bringing her even more closely.

Arya was kissing him back by instinct he could assume, not that he could think much at the moment because he could only feel how it felt so right to kiss her and have one of her hands placed against his chest while the other was tangled on his dark hair. As he started to crave more, been so much closer to her his tongue teased her lower lip begging for an entrance she gladly provided and a soft moan escaped from her. He found amusing how her aggressive personality showed on the way her lips struggled for dominance even though her inexperience also showed, but he didn't care one bit. This was amazing.

It wasn't until he felt her tugging his hair that he realised they both needed to breathe so he pulled back and rested his forehead against her. His eyes were still close while he was trying to catch his breath and not letting her go. Out of the blue he felt a peck on his lips and then Arya was kissing him again. This time she was more confident taking the initiative in everything and her arms snaked around his neck to bring him down to her level.

Once again when they pulled apart because air was a human necessity, he placed small butterfly kisses along her her face before finally pulling away from her. All he could think now was how amazing was to kiss her and having her in his arms, like she always belonged within them. It felt great, it felt so right like how could he had not done this before? His mind was working a thousand miles per hours to make up an excuse to kiss her again and dissuade her from dating stupid assholes who would not appreciate the privilege of touching her lips.

He observed her with her eyes still closed, cheeks flushed and swollen lips that he was desperately wanting to taste again. When she opened her eyes after a while, she smiled and looked at him straight before speaking.

"I think; I think we need more practice" a small chuckled escaped from him at her statement.  "As my lady commands" he answered before kissing her once again.

Gendry couldn't be happier about the fact that she wanted to kiss him again and he wasn't going to refuse her request, he wanted to kiss her for a long time and he wanted to be the only one so he did what needed to be done, he pulled apart and almost laughed as she followed instinctively, not wanting to loose the contact.

"You can't practice with anyone else" he declared, again his head flooded with images of other guys in his place. She giggled, since when did Arya giggled?

"As long as you take me out on friday night"

"Friday? How about tonight?" He smiled and kissed her again, he couldn't stop himself and he felt her smile as he kissed her again and again. He was so taking her out on a date on Friday, he'd pick her up, hold her hand and ask her to be his girlfriend. How could he'd been so blind all this time?

It may have taken a strange request from her and his jealousy kicking in for him to notice that how much he cared about her and how smitten he was actually by her, but he was not going to waste any more time.

**Author's Note:**

> I previously posted this on ff but I'm reposting it here with slight changes.


End file.
